Physical move

A physical move (Japanese: 物理技physical move) is one of the three categories of moves and one of the two that inflict damage.

Physical moves deal damage depending on both the Attack stat of the attacking Pokémon and the Defense stat of the defending Pokémon.

There are also a small number of special moves introduced in Generation V that are said to deal physical damage; although these moves are classified as special moves, they too deal damage based on the defending Pokémon's Defense stat (as opposed to its Special Defense).

While most physical moves make contact, some do not. For example, Earthquake does not make contact despite being a physical move.

All details are accurate to Pokémon XD. For details that have changed between games, please see an individual move's page. Target data assumes user is in the lower left.

Generation IV on

From Generation IV onward, every individual move is designated as either physical or special, independent of its type. Most damaging moves of the types that were physical before Generation IV are physical moves, and most Dark moves are also largely physical. However, there are exceptions, such as Focus Blast and Hyper Beam.